Fall of Singapore – 1942

Fall of Singapore

February 8-15, 1942 – Japanese forces swarm into Singapore, completely overwhelming the British and Australian defenders. Inadequate planning and poor leadership from the British commanders results in a rout, with the Japanese completing their capture of Britain’s most important Asian base in one week.

More than 130,000 British and Commonwealth troops are captured, the largest number of British troops ever captured in a single engagement. 15,000 of these troops are Australian, who would go on to serve as forced labourers in the jungles of Thailand and Burma. More than half of them would die before the war ends.